Robert Eugene Lillard (November 12, 1913 – April 12, 1991) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. Primarily a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB), he began his baseball career as an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

and was a prodigious

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

batsman, slugging over 300 career

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, including 56 round-trippers as a member of the 1935

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. The older brother of Bill Lillard, a former Major League

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, Gene Lillard was born in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. He threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

, stood tall and weighed . He signed with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

in 1932, and by his second pro season, he had reached the top level of the minors with the PCL Angels, leading the league at age 19 with 43 home runs. In 1934 Lillard hit 27 more homers for a Los Angeles team that would storm to the Pacific Coast League title by winning 137 out of 187 games (a

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

of .733). Then came his superlative 1935 season, in which he

played Played may refer to: * ''Played'' (album), a 1987 album * ''Played'' (film), a 2006 film * ''Played'' (TV series), a 2013 TV series See also * Plaid (disambiguation) * Play (disambiguation) * Player (disambiguation) Player may refer to: ...

in 170 games, scored 157 runs, made 232

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, drove home 147 RBI, and batted .361. His 56 homers led the Coast League, but Lillard was surpassed in several other key batting categories by the loop's premier player,

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

of the San Francisco Seals. In 1936, Lillard made the Major Leagues with the Cubs, but he appeared in only 19 games as a

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

and batted only .206, with seven hits in 34

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

and only one

extra base hit In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire ano ...

, a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

. Upon returning to the minors in 1937, Lillard converted to part-time pitcher, and he came back to the Majors as a moundsman for the 1939 Cubs and the 1940

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. Working in 22

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher. The statistic is also referred to as appearances, especially to refer to the number of ...

, eight as a starter, he lost six of nine decisions and gave up 76 hits and 40

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

with 33

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s in 59

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. At the plate in the Majors, he had eight hits in 44 at-bats, with no homers and two runs batted in. Lillard went back to the minor leagues for good in the middle of the 1940 season, and played as a combination pitcher and position player through 1954, with the 1943–1945 campaigns missed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was a playing manager in a variety of mid- and lower-level leagues as well. Lillard appeared in more than 2,100 minor league games. As a hitter, he batted .303 with 2,094 hits, 345 home runs and 1,414 runs batted in. As a pitcher, he won 44 and lost 32. Gene Lillard died in

Goleta, California Goleta ( ; ; Spanish for "schooner") is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated populated area in the county. As of the 200 ...

, in April 1991, at the age of 77.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lillard, Gene 1913 births 1991 deaths Bakersfield Indians players Baseball players from Santa Barbara, California Chicago Cubs players Fresno Cardinals players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Phoenix Senators players Rochester Red Wings players Sacramento Solons players St. Louis Cardinals players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Tucson Cowboys players Wichita Aviators players